The Kill
by SnowyRefuge
Summary: Few people are completely sure as to how gijinka- that is, humans with Pokemon qualities- came into existance, but the stories have always been sweeter and happier than what happened in reality. When Ursula Umbreon unintentionally uncovers this truth about her heritage, she finds herself wishing that she never found it in the first place.
1. Bedtime Stories

**First of all, I _finally_ came up with a new name for this. Thank Arceus, because I think it fits, and it's nowhere near as lame as "Pokimono." Secondly, I realize that I'm not updating any of my (other) stuff. You can look at my profile for my reason as to why. Thirdly... **

**Thanx so much 4 reading! **

**Please enjoy!**

**The Kill**

**By: Snowy Refuge**

**Disclaimer: ****I don't own Pokémon.**

**Chapter 1**

When Ursula's mother and father were still alive, they used to tell her and her eight siblings stories all the time. There used to be tales of lands full of the most beautiful of people and Pokémon, of princes and princesses, and of tragedy and bittersweet endings. She would always sit in bed next to her twin brother Link. Both of them would sit with their ears perked, listening closely to every word that the pair had to say. Her father would point out an idea and not a moment later her mother would expand on it as if a sudden burst of inspiration had just hit her like a title wave. Her father would then quickly pick up on what she was saying and jump into the story, as animated as he could possibly be.

It always amazed Ursula at the time how the two became so connected through storytelling, and how they were able to come up with so many ideas when they already had to go through the same routine for their three older siblings, the triples, first. And when the other pair of twins, Lin and Margot, came along into the picture, she suddenly became aware that the process was not tiring to the two, but a pleasure. Bedtime became everyone's favorite time simply because of how alive and happy the entire family was. In fact, she didn't mind having to move in with her other siblings when her parents had to make yet another nursery for their newest family editions. She could put up with the extra snoring, so long as story time continued to be a family tradition.

In fact, her parents' storytelling capabilities were so good that Ursula believed at one point that her parents could have been authors. They could paint words to life with nothing more than their own tongues, a practice that they had perfected over the years as they spoke to their children at night. Every time that she brought the subject of writing up, however, her parents would share a small, weak smile and look back at her.

"_I don't think that we can do that, honey,"_ her mother would tell her softly.

"_Well why not?"_ Link would be at Ursula's side, arms crossed. He would believe in his twin sister's cause until the end, for he, too, loved his parents' stories.

Their father would kneel down to their eye-level and ruffle the tops of their heads. _"Well, our stories are just for the family. You can tell them to your kids someday, but for now, it's a family secret."_

At the time, Ursula had been pleased with the answer, believing that she would someday be able to tell such tales to her own family. Now that she looked back on it, however, she realized that this was merely an excuse. Her parents simply didn't want to have to explain to their children that they could not afford to invest time into writing. With a family as large as theirs, they had to put as much time as possible into working and holding the family's strings together as closely as possible, most of which was done through their brilliant story time tactics.

Every one of the children had a favorite out of the stories that their parents told. Ursula's was the story of the moon goddess Cresselia while Link's was the one about Darkrai, the legend of the lonely gijinka that only needed help from a friend. In the future, the two always found it ironic how Link's tail ended up losing its brown fur, giving way to a more pink color and slim shape while Ursula's eyes turned from chocolate to red and her ears shrunk in size and shifted to a black color with little yellow bands on in the middle. How was it that her brother ended up the Espeon and she the Umbreon?

Such were the mysteries of life.

Their older brother Fallon, however, loved the story of how gijinkas came to be the most. Fallon had always been one for history, and so hearing this story in particular always piqued his interest, since it was, in a short summery, their heritage and history. Being Pokémon with human traits, gijinkas were by far one of the greatest mysteries to the world, and their parents had come up with a vague solution as to why it may have been.

When asked by Margot, one day, why they were different from Pokémon and not quite human, they told her that once, a long time ago, that the god of all Pokémon, named Arceus, observed a young Bellossom crying in a field and that, when asked what was wrong, the Bellossom replied, _"I'm in love with a human but he cannot love me because I am a Pokémon."_

This practically tore Arceus's heart out. He did not wish to see his creations suffer in pain because of the bodies that he gave them. So he made a deal with the Bellossom. _"What would you say,"_ he began in his beautiful, resonant voice, _"if I could give you a human body?"_

The Bellossom looked up at Arceus with the most hopeful eyes that the god of all Pokémon had ever seen and smiled serenely. _"That would be the most wonderful gift anyone has ever given me,"_ she said to him.

And so a moment later the Bellossom was gone, only to be replaced by a beautiful young girl with bright blue eyes. Red flowers rested on the top of her short blonde hair, which shone in the sun like the most lustrous of gold. Her grass skirt scattered and folded beneath the girl as she smiled at her god and bowed to him in gratitude, and then ran across the field, out of his sight.

The God Pokémon had never seen such a happy face. He swore to himself that, had any other Pokémon asked the same request, he would grant it. And so he did. Whenever he came across another soul that, for one reason or another, wished to be human, he granted them that wish and they would set to do whatever it was that they had wanted to do.

However, not everyone was pleased with these Pokémon that turned into humans. Many humans were afraid of them, as they discovered that they had the powers of a normal Pokémon. The only difference that they could see was that they came with a human face and spoke in their tongue. What if they ever caught their own Pokémon? What if they wanted revenge for being pitted against one another in battle? The humans saw them as a threat, and so they threatened the gijinkas in return.

The one Bellossom was the first to be forced into hiding by the boy she had loved. He did it for her safety, but she had never felt so lonely. So she formed a community of creatures just like her, who needed shelter and protection from human harm. There were several other communities spread around the regions like hers. It was one of these communities that Ursula's great, great, great grandparents were born, and where she, herself, was birthed from her mother.

To Ursula, the story always seemed farfetched, and not one of her parents' greatest pieces of work (the whole "Pokémon falls in love with a trainer" idea was coined up much too often by the media), but she still found herself respecting the story. Besides, in a secret community filled with people like yourself, it could be hard at times not having the slightest clue as to how you all came into existence. Even if the stories were merely lies, they gave some sort of closure and made the gijinkas feel more at ease.

Fallon always loved the story, though. His fluffy yellow tail would wave back and forth while his large orange ears would stand on edge, waiting for every word that their parents spoke with the utmost attention. Valentine always liked the story, too, although it was more of because she was a hopeless romantic. She always cried when their parents told the part of how Bellossom's one true love had to send her away heartbroken.

After their parents died, though, things became different for Ursula's large family. Link became much more pessimistic and Lin, one of her younger brothers, started to act seriously about every little thing that happened. Lin's twin sister, Margot worried over him most of the time, and was constantly trying to cheer him up. The two were always close, and even with Lin's new-found solemnity that would not change. Fallon and Valentine took over the parental roles of the family while their triplet Elsa, feeling a bit left out of the circle, began to spend more time to herself, usually hanging around outside, scratching pictures into tree bark with a bored expression on her face.

Ursula, too, changed from her parents' deaths. On minor inspection, some people may not have noticed any huge differences, since she was always a bit shy and reserved in the first place, but ever since her mother and father were hunted down by a group of gijinka hunters while they were out on vacation, she became even more quiet and withdrawn from others. Now, as opposed to simply hiding behind her twin's back whenever a new person came up to say hello, she would glare at the Zoroark from down the street every time he came up and tried to flirt with her until he eventually realized that his advances were going nowhere and walked away.

Still, he always tried.

Ursula remembered this one time when she was walking to school alone (Link had been sick, and he was the only person that she would walk with comfortably) when the Zoroark, Spirit, ran up to her side and invited her to drink sake with him after school.

"We_'re too young to drink,"_ she had replied, not bothering to look at the hansom gijinka as he smiled mischievously at her.

"_You need to chill out,"_ he'd told her. _"And stop scowling; your face might stick like that."_ Spirit laughed as the girl gave him another dirty look. He just ruffled her hair and gave a flirtatious wink, then jumped back just as she was about to lash out at him. _"You'll know where to find me when you change your mind!"_ He turned and ran off in the opposite direction as her, obviously planning on skipping their day of school. She watched his long black and red mane, and the little blue orb that tied it all together at the end of his hair as it disappeared down the street.

Spirit had said _"When,"_ not _"if."_ This turned out to be a rather embarrassing idea of his when Ursula, if fact, did not show up at his house for him to take her out for sake that night. He had refused to speak to her for another week before going back to hopelessly flirting again.

The only ones that hadn't really changed from their parents' death were Adam and Eve, the youngest siblings out of their large, over-sized family. They were young when they passed on, so the two never really remembered their mother or father. They constantly asked questions, but the sad look that Fallon and Valentine gave them always got them to shut up. They would run off after that and play wherever they wished, probably out by the creek outside of their house. They would sometimes bring along Devon, a friendly and loyal Dewott that Eve adored to no end. Anyone with eyes could see that the two had little crushes on each other.

Other times, Soul, Spirit's little sister, would join up with them. Most of the time, she relentlessly taunted the twins and Devon, but the group would, most of the time, chase her away with sticks and raised claws until she ran off with a wide grin on her face.

Soul was obviously in the process of evolving, as her hair was growing a little longer each day, her body was beginning to stretch into a tall and thin figure, and a little bit of that thick under-layer of hair was beginning thin out and turn to red. The entire community could only hope that this evolution would help mature her a little.

Soul was known as the Neighborhood Terror. She has a thing for jeering kids her age and purposely annoying adults by asking pointless questions and talking in a high-pitched, annoying voice. Adam and Eve generally avoided her at all costs, and if the girl ever so much as looked at Ursula, she would walk in the opposite direction or, if she was with Link, nudge his shoulder as an indication to walk faster.

There were, however, a few people that were safe from her constant teasing.

For example, there was this "elderly" couple living across the street. The reason why nobody can say "elderly" without being sarcastic is that the couple comprises of a Ninetales woman and her Arcanine husband. They were newlyweds (married only a year ago), and everyone knew that the husband Fang was only twenty-three. But nobody was really sure how old Ember, the wife, was. Whenever asked, she would avoid the question as if answering it would make her melt into a puddle. She looked like she was in her early twenties but then again, she was a Ninetales, and Ninetales virtually never age. There have been records of some living past a thousand years.

There's this beauty about Ember that everyone couldn't help but admire about her. She had lovely, delicate skin, red eyes that practically glowed, and some of the most gorgeous nine tails that anyone would ever be able to see in their entire life. But she was also refined and very formal in contrast to her happy-go-lucky husband. Whereas Fang would walk up to a stranger with a beer in hand, Ember would only speak when spoken to, and if anyone said the wrong thing, she would practically spit a vehement insult at them. If anyone touched her tails, she would claim to curse them.

It might be because Ninetales are rumored to actually possess these kinds of powers, but Soul generally stays away from Ember and Fang.

Another person that Soul will never bother is this Serperior that Margot has had an eternal crush on since the dawn of time, Cypress. He's a bit of a mystery to everyone, since he never speaks to too many people, but it could be this mystery that makes him so popular. Girls swoon at his feet and boys wish that they could be as cool as him. He's just that guy. It doesn't matter how cold he is to people; they love him, fear his quiet intellect, or are jealous of him.

Ursula, personally, was on the jealous side. How was it that so many people liked him when he hardly said a word and acted mean while she only had one admirer that did nothing but sexually harass her from daybreak to sunset?

It was possibly Cypress's cold stare that kept Soul away; she was possibly in the group that feared him. Ursula couldn't blame her, though. He was tall, lean, and had these beady red eyes. How the hell her sister liked him, Ursula wasn't sure, but whatever it was, she must have had a good reason. Anything that could make her green, leafy tail sway so much _had_ to have a reason.

The last notable person that Soul for some reason never speaks to is one of Elsa's friends, Lynx. Ever since Fallon and Valentine took up parental duties, she's been bored so she took up her free time with their apathetic neighbor, who just so happened to be a Luxray. Elsa often described his hair as "black silk" and his eyes as "golden suns," which made things a little more than obvious to the entire family. Whenever asked, she would always deny him as her boyfriend, but Ursula knew better. She once caught them kissing out at the park.

She was just walking by when she spotted Lynx holding the blonde hair out of Elsa's face. Her long yellow ears twitched excitedly as he'd whispered something to her and then leaned forward and touched his lips to hers. They stayed in a position like that for a while before they pulled away from one another. Elsa leaned her head down on Lynx's chest and he pulled a protective arm around her. His eyes met Ursula's at one point, but after that she scurried away in a hurry.

But Ursula never told anyone about it, though. This was one secret that she could keep.

If Ursula had to take a guess, she would say that Soul also had a crush on Lynx. It would certainly explain why she always stopped to stare at him, open-mouthed and wide-eyed, but never spoke to him. She supposed that even _Soul_ could be a girl every once in a while.

One of Soul's most prominent victims was Valentine's best friend, an Altaria named Atlas. Atlas was a bit frail for a boy and tended to take on some feminine habits such as cleaning and cooking so most people mistake him for being gay- which, Ursula wasn't quite so sure, but he could have been. She's always had her doubts, though, with the way that Atlas always stares at Valentine as if she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.

Ursula had spoken to Atlas once, and all he would talk about was Valentine. _"She's just so kind-hearted and generous,"_ he told her while looking into space with a dreamy look in his brightly-colored brown eyes. _"And have you seen her swim- actually, don't answer that; I'm sure you have- but she's so elegant in the water. I mean, that's normal since she's a Vaporeon, but still! And those ears of hers! They're just too cute!"_ Her ears actually were quite adorable. If she had the choice, Ursula would trade for her older sister's webbed ears any day.

Atlas was also the kind of person that would worry about other people without even knowing them. The first time he had met the entire family, Valentine had brought him over to dinner. Lin had sat at the back of the table, glaring the boy down with his icy blue eyes the entire time and, when the meal was over, dragged Margot away just as Atlas was about to start some sort of conversation with her.

Later, Atlas asked why Lin seemed so upset with him, and Link had said that he's an _"over-protective, too-serious party-pooper."_ This didn't sit well with Valentine, however, who said that he was just a little mistrusting. Atlas still continued to fuss, though, insisting that he had done something wrong and that he needed to go apologize.

After weeks of observation, Atlas had concluded that Lin was lonely, since he saw him talking to almost no one but Margot. But even then, Margot had lots of friends and couldn't spend all of her time with her twin brother. Atlas thought that his being around Lin's older sister made him upset and that he perhaps didn't want to share Valentine. So he did one of the most rash things that a person could ever do.

He set Lin up on a blind play date.

Everyone had been shocked at first when Margot opened the door and found Atlas standing next to a short young girl with her hair in two buns that stared at her as if she wanted to tear someone's throat out.

"_This is Gene,"_ Atlas had explained when Lin finally arrived at the front door. _"You seemed lonely so I brought you a friend."_

Honestly, Ursula half expected Lin to leap out at Atlas and freeze him alive, but he didn't. He just stared at the Teddiursa that stood in front of him. Blinked. Stared. Blinked again. And then just burst out laughing.

It had been a long time since anyone had seen Lin laugh, so the entire family was put up on guard and ready to tackle him to the ground or tear him off of Atlas if it came to the worst. But nothing bad ever happened. After his laughing, he slapped the Altaria's back good-naturedly and pulled his arm around Gene and wandered out the door with her with a large smile on his face.

"_My name's Lin,"_ he'd told her, still laughing a bit as he talked. _"It's nice to meet you, Gene."_

"_You, too, I guess…"_ Ursula heard the girl mutter just as they walked out of ear-shot. _"So how do _you_ know that creep?"_

Ever since then, Lin could sometimes be found having conversations with Gene or waving to Atlas. He still stayed his serious self, but he's been steadily moving forward.

Ursula hasn't been progressing past her quiet nature, though. She still walks to school with Link and avoids Spirit and his obnoxious little sister as much as possible. She still hasn't the courage to look that lovely married couple in the eyes whenever they wave to her in the mornings. She still will look to her twin brother rather than one of her older sisters whenever she seeks guidance. And she still pays as close attention to her surroundings as possible.

For example: an Absol gijinka passed right by her on her way to school one morning. This was a highly unusual thing, considering that Absol, the Pokémon _or_ gijinka, typically stay up in the mountains, locked away in solitude. Why in the world an Absol would be there was far beyond her.

Another thing that Ursula noticed on that same day was that when Adam and Eve went out to play in the evening, they went without Devon and Soul wasn't pestering them as they left as usual.

Ursula noticed that night that there was a shooting star out in the sky and pointed it out to Link. He simply blinked at her. _"And why should I care?"_ He asked.

"_I thought that you might want to make a wish,"_ she replied, watching the sky for any more stars that may fall. Her black tail was slowly moving from side to side and her ears twitched in anticipation.

Link sighed, which caused his sister to look away from the window and into his eyes. _"Look, Ursula, that stuff is all fake; wishes on stars don't come true."_

"_Well, how would you know that? Have you ever tried?"_

The young male sighed again and rubbed the tiny red jewel on his forehead with his thumb and index finger. _"Fine, I'll show you."_

He shoved his sister's body to the side and stood in front of the window. When he spotted a star falling, he, rather grumpily, went into the "Wish I may, wish I might," routine and ended with a, _"I wish for five thousand dollars."_

Ursula crossed her arms and glared at him. _"Well, that isn't even a very realistic wish,"_ she deadpanned. _"Now do it over again."_

Linked rolled his eyes but did as instructed and repeated the process. This time it ended with, _"I wish for life to be more exciting."_

When Link pointed out that nothing had happened, she simply told him that wishes take time, and that he would have to wait.

One other thing Ursula noticed no more than five minutes later was that Adam and Eve were late to getting home. When expressing her worries to Fallon, he shook his head and assured her that they would come home in good time.

An hour later, everyone in the house noticed that something was wrong.

Fallon took off with Valentine to look for the twins. Elsa was in charge in the meantime. She cooked dinner for the remaining four siblings and ordered them to bed much earlier than they would have liked. Margot and Link complained while Lin sighed (but headed off to bed a moment later, anyway) and Ursula's ears flattened against her head, but Elsa insisted with a happy smirk across her lips. She was enjoying the power of being in charge.

Just as the three were planning on actually giving up and going up to bed, however, Fallon and Valentine rushed into the house, panting and sweaty. Each of them held two small bodies with brown hair lying stiffly in their arms.

Ursula clutched Link's arm while Margot held a hand to her mouth. Elsa stared in horror at her two youngest siblings, whose eyes were both glazed and held wide open.

"_Elsa,"_ Fallon commanded. _"Run over Mr. Claydol's house and have him get into contact with a doctor."_

But Elsa would not move. She was frozen to the spot, staring at Adam and Eve.

_"Elsa!"_

She still wouldn't move, petrified. Finally done with all of this waiting around, Link pushed Ursula off of him and bolted out the door, no doubt following instructions, off to find Mr. Carol Claydol, or any other psychic-type that might have been up at the time.

Meanwhile, Adam and Eve were set gently down on their ragged couch. Margot and Ursula raced over and each held a hand around their tiny closed fists, watching their younger siblings' faces.

Lin had apparently heard Fallon's screaming, for he came into the living room, rubbing his eyes and scratching his long blue ears. _"Hey, guys, can you keep it down? I'm trying to sl-"_ He stopped talking and put his hands down to his sides. _"Arceus!"_ He shrieked, horrified. _"What the hell happened?"_

He pushed past Elsa just as Valentine explained. _"When we went to get them, we found them out by the stream like this. We thought they had just fallen asleep at first, but then we noticed that their eyes were open and that they wouldn't move…"_ She trailed off.

Ursula's grip on Adam's hand tightened. His fingers were ice cold.

"_Will…"_ Elsa's voice cracked as she tried to speak. She swallowed to clear her dry throat before starting again. _"I mean… Are they dead?"_

When she looked up, Ursula noticed that this was the first time she had ever seen Elsa cry since their parents' death.

Fallon, only just noticing the tears running down Elsa's face, only looked his triplet in the eyes and said in a quivering voice, _"I sure as hell hope not."_

At that point, everyone in the room was shedding tears.

**Author's Note:**

**You know the drill. Please review. I accept critisism (this is encouraged, actually), short/quick comments, summaries on what made the story good or bad, and even flames. So long as I get some form of feedback, I think I'll be fine.**

**(And for anyone wondering: my new title _is_, indeed, named after the song by 30 Seconds to Mars.)**

**Thanks so much for reading! See you whenever (if) I decide to update this!**


	2. Miracles Do Happen

**Hope you guys like the new name, because it took me _forever_ to come up with it.**

**The Kill**

**By: Snowy Refuge**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.**

* * *

**Chapter 2**

Ursula shook violently as Nurse Charity entered their home with a young boy at her side and, in response to the fear that Link could feel coming off of his littermate in waves, he grasped her hand and held on as tightly as he could.

The Blissey nurse didn't waste any time in figuring out what was wrong with the two Eevee siblings that lay unmoving on their couch, checking for pulses and any signs of breath. Whenever she needed an instrument, she would tell the pink-and-blonde haired boy that came in with her and he would hand it to her after a moment of searching through a large black bag.

She had taken a small flashlight and shone it into each child's wide eyes, watching for a reaction. Whenever she found something odd, she would nod to herself and write it down on a small clipboard that she had at her side. When touching their skin, she commented about how cold they were, and Fallon would explain about how he and Valentine had found them out in the woods. It _was_ winter, after all.

She merely shook her head and went back to examining the two afterwards, leaving the room in complete silence, apart for Nurse Charity's commands for different tools.

She eventually stopped everything and leaned back in her chair, closing her pink eyes and sighing heavily. Everyone stood on the tips of their toes in anticipation, waiting for some sort of news that the two had died, or that they would live. But she never said a word.

Finally, Link cleared his throat. "So… what's the verdict?"

At the sudden noise, Nurse Charity opened one eye and inspected Link carefully before saying anything. "I heard that it was an Espeon that ran over to your neighbors to make the call," she said, completely out of the blue. "Was that you?"

The pink-haired male squeezed his sister's hand even more tightly and nodded stiffly.

Nurse Charity nodded to him as a way of thanks and proceeded to the explanation. "I've never seen anything like this before," she admitted. "They're not breathing and have no heartbeat, but their pupils still react to light and… well, you did say that you found them approximately five minutes before calling the hospital, right?"

She turned to Fallon as she said this last part and, when he nodded, she placed a finger under her chin thoughtfully. "Well, that would mean that, if they were dead, then they would have been so for at least forty minutes. But, indicators of death for over thirty minutes include purple or waxy skin, white lips and finger-and-toe nails, blue hands and feet, and eyes that sink into your skull, but they don't seem to have any of these symptoms. It's very odd."

At the listing of all of these things, everyone looked quite uncomfortable, but Ursula couldn't help but notice how Elsa's face drained of color, and how she looked like she wanted to puke right there on the spot. She must have been at least twenty times as mortified as everyone else.

"But one thing to take note of," Nurse Charity started again, cutting into Elsa's terror, "is that their skin is as cold as ice."

Fallon practically growled in agitation. "I already told you," he told her in both annoyance and desperation. "They were outside, and it's freezing and-"

"I wasn't exaggerating, Mr. Flareon," Nurse Charity interrupted him abruptly. "If you touch an ice cube and compare it to the temperature of your younger siblings' skin, then you're not likely to find much of a difference. Quite frankly, I'd rather be holding the ice cube."

Her starkness was something was something to be marveled at. Stereotypically, Blissey were supposed to be kind and compassionate in every way possible; they were even considered to be one of the gentlest Pokémon in the world.

"Aiden!" Nurse Charity called out suddenly, beckoning for her assistant, who had remained silent throughout all of his time in the house so far, and he looked up to her with wide blue eyes before rushing over with her bag quickly. The Blissey nurse took her bag from the Audino boy, pulled out a piece of paper, and began scribbling down words on it.

"Now, I want you to go to the pharmacy just down the road whenever you can. My daughter runs the store, so all you'll need is to show her a note of mine saying that you may purchase some Ice Heals. I want you to start spraying each of them with those, once per day, for as long as it takes them to wake up. It could be a day, it could be weeks. I don't know. I also want you to flash a light in their eyes each night and watch for pupil dilation, just to make sure that their conditions aren't worsening. If you see anything strange, I'll need you to get into contact with either me or Aiden, and-"

Valentine, having a nearly expressionless look on her face during everything that Nurse Charity said, suddenly interrupted. "Whoa! I'm sorry, but you're speaking much too quickly." She waved her hands in front of her chest. "I don't think that I'll be able to cram all of this into my brain!"

"Well, then," Nurse Charity said sarcastically. "It's a good thing that I'm writing all of this down, huh, Sweet pea?"

This caused a few tears to form on the corners of Valentine's dark blue eyes. She was out on the edge, and Nurse Charity's jab only seemed to make it worse.

The nurse's eyes instantly softened when she noticed what she had done, but she still looked down to her piece of paper and continued writing.

"I'll be checking up on Mr. and Ms. Eevee every other day to make sure things are going well, but…" She trailed off and looked up from her paper, her dark pink eyes finding Fallon's and holding them in a serious gaze. "I'll warn you now, Mr. Flareon," she told him gravely. "I've already got too much work on my plate right now, so if neither of them wakes up in two months, I'm treating them as a lost cause."

The seven Eevee evolutions inside of the house all flattened their ears against their heads, and even Aiden, the assistant, looked as if he disapproved of his teacher's decision.

"But, Mrs. Blissey-" the Audino boy started to say, only to be stopped with a sharp glare from the pink haired woman. Instantly, his mouth closed and he dropped his gaze. There would be no more arguments coming from the preteen for the rest of the night.

Nurse Charity got up from her seat, being sure to leave her paper on their table, and briskly walked towards the door with Aiden following behind, his head hanging shamefully. Poor Aiden shot the family an apologetic look just as his teacher stepped out of the house; he had choice but to follow after her a moment later.

Nobody moved for a very long time. Everyone's eyes were wide and focused directly on the door, watching, waiting. They weren't sure exactly _what_ they were waiting for- a miracle of sorts, perhaps- but it felt as if their bodies were paralyzed with horror.

How was it that a _Blissey_ of all things- considered one of the most loyal, forgiving, and heartwarming Pokémon _or_ gijinka known to man- had acted so coldly towards them?

Lin was the first one to make his stiff legs move. He slowly walked towards the paper that Nurse Charity had left them, and, with fingers much too still for the inner turmoil that Ursula knew that he must have been feeling inside, lifted it to his eyelevel.

After a moment, his eyes widened, and his neck stiffly turned towards Fallon with fear never once leaving his face and asked, in the most panicked tone that anyone had heard from him since their parents' deaths, "How are we going to afford all of these Ice Heals?"

Fallon snatched the paper from his fingers and as he read over it, his dark blue eyes hardened. "We can't," he admitted.

* * *

The following morning, there had been a ruckus over whether Lin and Margot should go to school. The two had wanted to stay home and take care of Adam and Eve, but Fallon had denied this, telling them that Valentine would be skipping work to watch them, and that they needed school.

The three oldest had originally agreed that Ursula and Link, being seniors and close to the end of their final year of high school, would be able to afford missing a day (especially since they had no tests), but the second youngest litter refused to be left out of the circle.

"_But they're our brother and sister, too,"_ Lin had argued with him. The edges of his long blue hair were beginning to freeze and harden into ice crystals, something that happened frequently whenever he was angry. _"We want to help!"_

"_Yeah!"_ Margot instantly jumped in beside her twin, her leafy tail straightened out in a way that none of the family had ever seen. _"If Link and Ursula aren't leaving, then neither are we!"_

At this, Fallon had looked over at Ursula and Link apologetically, and they knew what had to be done.

Lin and Margot couldn't afford to miss too much school; their futures depended on good grades so that they could get into a good college and have better lives ahead of them.

So they were stuck walking to school that day with horrid thoughts of all the bad outcomes that could happen to Adam and Eve while they were gone fresh and imprinted in their worried minds. Ursula tried to seek comfort in the fact that the two were in the care of sweet, gentle Valentine, but she still couldn't shake the thoughts from her mind, and found herself slinking even farther behind Link that usual.

_What if they never woke up?_ She found the thought much too realistic for her liking, and tried not to dwell on the idea too much, but it always kept drifting back.

Were they really a loss cause, as Nurse Charity had suggested they might be?

Eventually, she had fallen so far behind her brother that he was completely out of sight. At this point, however, she had lost all motivation in going to school and simply sat down on a bench with her back slouched and her arms hanging over the edges of her legs. All that she wanted was some peace and quiet, and the school grounds were most certainly not where she would find these things.

Then again, there were always other dangers with not going to school.

After a minute of sitting around and staring blankly at the ground, her vision suddenly went black as a pair of hands settled over her red eyes. She did little to respond, however, and simply sat there, waiting for the worst of it to be over.

"Guess who~" A playful voice whispered much too close to her for her liking. The breath that the boy emitted caused the corner of her ears to twitch, a habit most gijinka with pointed ears had. Most were annoyed with this quirk of theirs, and Ursula was no exception.

She sighed. "Get off of me, Spirit."

"Well," Spirit said from behind her, finally releasing his hands from over her eyes. "You did guess correctly, but…" He instead used his arms to snake around her waist and rested his head on top of her shoulder. "I don't think that I _wanna_ get off, Ursula."

Arceus, he was such a damn flirt. Ursula just couldn't get her head wrapped around it. The position must have been uncomfortable, too, since he was leaning over the bench to do this. It was stupid.

She thought over Lynx and Elsa's relationship multiple times and compared it to the way that Spirit treated her, but it was nowhere near the same. Whereas Lynx was respectful of Elsa's privacy and never pried too far, Sprit did the opposite, always trying to put her in uncomfortable positions to catch her off guard and never stopping to ask if he should give her some space. So, in her conclusion, if Spirit actually cared about her, then he would leave her alone every once in a while rather than constantly sexual harass her. Quite frankly, it was becoming annoying. And she certainly didn't need it _today_ of all days.

So Ursula weighed her options down. She couldn't use Faint Attack, since they were in broad daylight with no shadows; besides, he was too close and she lacked the distance she would need to acquire the surprise that the attack needed to get started. There would be no point in Moonlight, and Confuse Ray would be useless. Spirit was stupid enough as it was...

"So where's that brother of yours?" Spirit asked, interrupting her thoughts. His hair was tickling her cheek as he spoke. It was starting to break her nerves a bit. "You guys are usually attached at the hip at this time of day."

She didn't answer him, and tried to pry his arms from around her waist, but he only tightened his grip. "Let go," panic rose in Ursula's voice as she suddenly developed a feeling of claustrophobia. She couldn't breathe. Her eyes were starting to sting. "Get off of me!" She screeched.

Spirit's head rose and Ursula could tell that he'd figured out that something was wrong. He got up from her shoulder and jumped over the bench so that he could sit next to her. Before she had the chance to make a break for it, the Zoroark grasped her hands and held them him his own, watching her with worried blue eyes. "Hey, don't cry!"

_Had_ she been crying? She hadn't noticed, but she supposed the tears were what caused the stinging in her eyes. She tried to wipe away the tears, but the boy continued to hold her, refusing her any control over her own limbs. She continued to struggle, telling him to let go of her, but Spirit wouldn't allow it.

"Is this still about Adam and Eve?" He asked over her screaming, trying to gain her attention. The two names made her ears twitch, and she stared at the male in front of her.

How could he have possibly known…?

Spirit noticed her reaction and smirked, relieved. "Listen, I talked with Soul just last night, right after I got home from school. She promised me that she wouldn't bother them anymore, OK?"

And her heart began to sink again.

She knew what he was talking about now. The last time Ursula had been forced into talking with him, it was at school and he'd asked her out and, as usual, she'd outright rejected him to yet another date proposal, to which he groaned. His bright blue eyes drooped and he looked at the Umbreon in front of him with annoyance written all over his face. _"When are you going to finally agree to go out with me?"_ He whined.

"_How about when you exchange your personality for a more mature and less annoying one?"_ She had asked, sounding much more annoyed with the entire ordeal than he was.

"_Out of the question,"_ he'd brushed her off and gave a sharp, canine smile. _"If my dashing looks won't have you running to me one day, it's going to be my awesome personality."_ He poked her nose and jumped back a little just as she swiped at him with her hands. _"So pick something else, Ms. Grumpy Pants!"_

Honestly, she just wanted to punch him in the face, but she turned away from him and resumed her walk to the cafeteria, her destination before her had suddenly appeared out of seemingly nowhere and pulled her into an abandoned hallway.

"_Come on,"_ Spirit had continued to whine as he followed the girl down the, by now, nearly empty halls. _"There's got to be something else that I could do."_

When she'd continued to ignore him, Spirit simply grabbed her wrist and prevented her from going any further. _"Ursula,"_ he whined. _"Answer me!"_

"_I kind of want to murder you right now,"_ she admitted, glaring at the boy menacingly. She took a glance at the clock on the hall. Link should be wondering where she was by now.

Spirit merely shrugged in response. _"Go ahead and try,"_ he told her. _"Just remember; I know Focus Blast and could knock you out in a split second."_

She looked back at him and glared. _"Is that a challenge?"_

Next thing she knew, she had her back pressed up against the locker walls with Spirit's cocky face staring down at her. The lockers were freezing cold due to the upcoming winter, and the pressure on her back against them created a chill that crept up her spine and left her mind reeling as the Zoroark boy leaned down, pressing his mouth next to her ear.

"_I don't know,"_ Spirit whispered. _"_Is_ that a challenge?"_

Ursula had to admit it: the thought on him using a Focus Blast at such a close range made her stomach churn. She knew he wouldn't actually do it, but the threat was scary enough as it was. She was so vulnerable to fight-type attacks that just one could do some massive damage.

Where the hell was Link? Not that it mattered; they would both be at type disadvantages against Sprit anyway. It was unlikely that they would win in a battle against him, even using their combined strength.

She instead decided to give into his prodding and give him a chance. _"OK, then; if you can get your stupid little sister to stop bothering Adam and Eve, then I might think about it."_

No; she probably wouldn't think about it even if he did so, but if it would get him off of her case, then so be it.

After a moment of contemplating, the boy released her, but a confused look came over his face. _"Who're Adam and Eve?"_

"_Well,"_ Ursula started, rubbing her wrists with a displeased expression on her face. _"If you have to ask that, then you probably shouldn't be asking me out." _After that, she had walked away and, surprisingly, Spirit hadn't followed her.

It seemed like he'd done her that small favor, though. But did it even matter now?

The Zoroark took note of her ears, which had become flattened against her head. "Calm down," he tried telling her. "I know that she might seem a little untrustworthy, but Soul's a good girl. She always keeps her promises." One of his hands let go of hers, and he used his now free arm to wrap around Ursula's tiny shoulders. Instantly, her body stiffened, but he took no note.

Why was he being so touchy lately? He'd only touched her this much rarely; he usually preferred trying a more subtle approach, but every now and then he'd get like this and it was always unbearable. Maybe he was in heat; she wouldn't know, though. Ursula was always locked in her room by herself whenever time came for her, so she wasn't sure how the specifics went. Most other gijinka that came from mammal-like Pokémon were also locked in their houses by their families at this time, but from what she knew, Spirit only lived with his little sister, so there was no one to keep him from harassing the world at this time. So maybe he…

Her thoughts stopped there. She wasn't sure where she was going with them, anyway. She just knew that she was trying to distract herself from other, more terrible thoughts, thoughts of Adam and Eve, their wide brown eyes frozen in a state of fear, and how her family couldn't afford the money they needed to make them better.

Damn it.

Why did gijinka medicine have to be so much harder to produce than the stuff for Pokémon? Why did it have to be so much more expensive? And why did her family have to be so poor? Things would be so much simpler if there weren't so many of them for Fallon and Valentine and Elsa to support for, or if their parents had lasted just a few years longer for the three of them to finish college. They couldn't juggle all that work with a job and family of nine to keep close; when they'd tried, it only made things harder for everyone in the family.

So why? Why did things have to… to…

Ursula bit her lip and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block the entire world out, but her shoulders began to tremble, and there was little she could to stop it.

Spirit finally seemed to notice the shaking of her body, so he shifted on the bench to stare at her with those crystal blue eyes. She turned her head to look away from him. "Hey, Ursula?" His hand squeezed hers, but she only continued to shake and look away from him. "Soul won't bother your brother and sister again, OK? I promise you they'll be alright." He paused a moment. "Ursula, look at me!"

Her eyes snapped open at the commanding tone in his voice. She could feel his hand on her jaw; he was trying to force eye contact. "Leave me alone!" She shouted at him, her voice cracking.

A few of the passing people on the streets cast them curious glances, but Spirit ignored them and finally forced her head to look back in his direction. "Listen to me, Ursu-"

She let out a long, loud, and agonizing high-pitched shriek that left Spirit reeling back and covering his pointed black ears with his hands. The shriek echoed on itself and created a rippling effect that overlapped and formed clashing notes to a broken song.

Echoed Voice. At this short of a range, it must have been unbearable to hear.

The Zoroark, eyes closed, stumbled off the bench and tried to get at a farther distance while the other people that surrounded them tried to retreat from the battle site, but Spirit tripped over a trash can and stopped moving. Slowly, he opened his eyes and stared hard at the Umbreon, who had only just stopped for a gulp of air. "What the hell was that for?" He yelled.

Another Echoed Voice came his way, and he took all the damage that he could, grinding his teeth together. The attack grows stronger every time you use it in succession, so it was louder this time. It was obviously taking its toll, too.

When her scream finall died, out, Spirit finally got tired of being part of a one-sided battle and decided to join in. "I don't wanna have to do this, but…" he put his hands out in front of him and a small blue orb began to form. "You asked for it!"

Ursula's eyes widened at the sight of the Focus Blast. This was it. She'd probably be knocked off of her feet in less than ten seconds if she didn't do something.

But what? She wanted to dodge, but her legs wouldn't allow her movement. She was frozen to the spot, immobilized with terror at the sight of such a powerful move. Even as the little blue orb came rushing her way, her legs refused to take her anywhere.

And then, something extraordinary happened.

A light blue beam covered in an icy mist, a gift from Arceus above, burst in and intercepted the orb when it was only five feet away from her, at first covering the ball in a thin layer of ice, and then exploding into dust, ice, and energy. The combination of the Ice Beam and Focus Blast's explosion ended up knocking Ursula back a few feet but she remained, for the most part, unharmed.

Her wide red eyes looked for the source of this Ice Beam and found, standing just on the ring of people that had made room for the battle, a boy, not much older than herself, with dark skin and white hair that hung limply just above his red eyes. Off on the side of his head hung a scythe-like horn.

The Absol she had seen passing by her yesterday.

The boy stepped forward slowly, his hands stuck inside the pockets of his long silver coat and challengingly watched Spirit. The Zoroark, in return, glared at him.

"What do you think you're doing?" He sneered. He obviously looked a little taken aback by the fact that an _ice_-type move had disengaged his fighting-type one.

The Absol boy shrugged his shoulders, but the challenge remained in his eyes. _Back down or be beaten to a pulp_, his eyes said. _Someone as small and insignificant as you can't beat me._

Spirit's eyes remained focused and unthreatened, however and charged straight for the boy, his fingernails beginning to lengthen into claws that admitted a dark aura. He was always one of the fastest people that Ursula had ever known, always pacing an average of the fifth fastest time in the one-mile runs that the school administers once a day, so he reached his target speedily and easily, and attempted to rake his darkened claws over the Absol, who deflected the Night Slash by turning his head to the side and blocking it with the horn that stood on the side of his skull.

Grimacing, the Zoroark leapt back a few feet and looked at his claws, which appeared to be chipped. The sharp-looking edge to the Absol's horn obviously wasn't for show.

The Absol wasted no time while he was in the air, however, as he shot a purple Shadow Ball and rushed in after it with fangs barred. Spirit had no time to dodge as he had just landed on the ground when the attack came barreling after him, hitting him squarely in the stomach. It may have not been very effective by type standards, but it sure seemed to do enough damage, as Spirit was gasping over his stomach, pain stretched across his face. But the Absol wasn't done.

He came right up from behind his Shadow Ball and, as Spirit was clutching himself in agony, sunk his fangs into the boy's arm.

Spirit shook him off quickly, but he still looked to be in a large amount of pain, bent over and clutching his arm in agony. He looked over at Ursula at one point, but she refused to look back at him. His face darkened and he frowned deeply, letting out an aggravated growl, before quickly running off into the crowd and disappearing from sight.

When he left, the Absol glared out at the crowd, and they all quickly dispersed, getting on with their normal lives. The boy looked back at Ursula, who was lingering by the bench, still not quite sure what to do, and walked over to her. At first, she had tried to pretend that he wasn't there by paying him no attention, but then he stopped walking right after making it over to her and stood there silently, tapping his foot with impatience.

But she still didn't say or do anything, just stood there and watched the people walk by. She only bothered to pay the Absol attention when she felt a sharp sting on the top of her head and turned to see him, fist raised just above her. Ursula glared at him and rubbed her head. "What was that for?" She demanded.

The boy didn't say anything, but shook his head.

Ursula pursed her lips in annoyance but turned away and tried not to look at him again. Link had probably realized that he lost her by now; he should be coming to find her soon.

Still, the Absol boy hadn't left yet. Instead, he sat down on the bench next to her and just… sat there. Possibly staring at her. Ursula couldn't be certain about the last part, but it was a bit unnerving to have him sitting there.

The Umbreon girl tried to ignore him by staring straight ahead of her, waiting for Link to come back, but then she felt a tug on her wrist. She looked over. The Absol boy was staring at her with those red eyes of his, pointing to a spot next to him.

"What…" Ursula's hair stood on end as she watched the boy, who was trying to communicate with her silently for whatever reason. _What was it that he wanted?_

But then she noticed it. The trembling of her legs. She could feel them quiver beneath her, and she wanted nothing more than to sit down at the moment.

She looked at the boy and he knew that she'd figured it out. He scooted over a little, and Ursula sat down on the bench next to him. "Thank you…" She muttered quietly.

The Absol boy nodded to her, his snowy white hair falling over his dark face, and looked on ahead, into the crowd. Ursula thought his silence to be odd, but brushed it off and continued looking ahead for Link, trying once again to keep Adam and Eve off of her mind.

It didn't work, though. Every time she blinked, she saw their little bodies in the arms of Fallon and Valentine, unnaturally still. She could still feel their cold hands, refusing to move or be pried open.

Oh, Arceus! What if they would _never_ be able to afford those Ice Heals?

She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned. The Absol was handing her a tissue.

She gratefully took the fluffy white object and wiped her eyes until they were dry. "Thanks…" She paused as she folded her hands into her lap and looked at the boy. "I'm sorry, but what are you doing here, anyway?"

The boy put his gloved hand to his throat and shook his head at her.

Blushing, Ursula put her head down instantly, embarrassed that she'd ask him something that he was, quite literally, unable to answer.

A moment, however, she felt him tap on her shoulder again. He was pointing to her, watching her eyes questioningly. "Me?"

He nodded.

"I was on my way to school with my brother, but I got separated." She sighed. "I'm really not in the mood to try and catch up with him, so… I'm just waiting for him to come and find me."

His head tilted slightly, but either didn't or couldn't prod any further. Somehow, she got the feeling that it was the former, based on how he turned away from her a moment later.

Ursula was still curious about him, though. Absol don't normally leave the mountains, unless they're under the influence of a human. And, frankly, she doubted that a human would have any use for a mute gijinka. Many moves depended on a voice, and gijinka would be unable to report things back to their human counterparts, as gijinka hunters often depended upon.

Besides, Absol are typically very proud creatures. It was often rumored that they'd rather kill themselves than be forced into the servitude of a human.

So the question was still raised as to what he was doing here. Unfortunately, that was not something she could ask him.

"Uh… hey," Ursula turned back to the Absol. He looked back at her curiously. "Any chance that your name happens to be a natural object?" It wasn't that uncommon for gijinka that lived away from these types of societies to be named after things that occur in nature. Maybe that happened to be his case.

Luckily, it was. The boy turned his back to the area behind them and pointed to the shaded ground.

"Concrete?" She guessed. The boy smiled and his body shook in what looked like laughter. He continued to point. "Rock? Stone?" More head shaking.

Now the Absol turned back towards the ground in front of them, which was covered in light, and pointed. He looked back at Ursula and used his hands to form an "X" shape, then went back to the shaded ground.

"… Shadow."

Shadow smiled and nodded.

"Shadow Absol," she tested it out on her tongue. It had a nice ring to it. "Cool name; I'm Ursula Umbreon. Nice to meet you, Shadow."

She held her hand out and, after a moment, he took it in his and shook. His grip was a little too loose and a bit awkward, as if he wasn't sure what he was exactly supposed to do, but Ursula thought it was alright. She wasn't very good with hand-shaking, either.

When he let go, she took her hand back quickly and placed it back on her lap. "And… uh, thanks for scaring Spirit off back there. He's a big enough pain in the ass as it is, but I can't deal with him today." She awkwardly scratched at her ears, which she realized were suddenly flattened against her head. "So… thanks."

Shadow blinked at her and shook his head, as if to say 'No problem.'

Ursula liked this guy. Talking with him was like playing a game of charades. She hadn't played that since her parents died…

A head of light pink hair suddenly popped up into the crowd and, a moment later, Link appeared, whipping his head around frantically. When his purple eyes finally landed on her, Ursula waved him over. He came running.

"Where've you been?" He yelled as soon as he was within ear-shot. He looked angry. "I thought something happened to you!"

"I'm fine, Link," she deadpanned. "I just got lost and ran into Spirit, but-"

"Spirit was with you?" Link's eyes narrowed. He absolutely _abhorred_ the Zoroark boy. "I told you not to hang out with him!"

"I know," Ursula tried reasoning with him calmly. "You know that I hate him, too. But he-"

"Never mind; it doesn't matter anymore." Link sighed and looked to the side. When spotting Shadow, who had remained uninvolved during their conversation, his eyes narrowed. "Who's _he_?"

Ursula felt her tail go straight. "Well, he-"

"You know what? Forget it!" The Adam and Eve crisis was obviously taking its toll on Link, too. He was much more angry than usual. "We're late for school now. I don't have time to worry about this!"

He turned around and stormed off, his long pink tail angrily weaving through the air as he stalked through the crowds.

Ursula exchanged glances with Shadow. "Sorry, he's not usually like this." She groaned as she got up from the bench. "Got to go now, bye."

The Absol waved to her in return and she was off, following closely behind Link. When he heard her footsteps behind him, he turned back to her.

"Can you stop attracting other dark-types?" He asked. "You know that I hate the fact that if anything happens I'll be forced into a fight that's clearly at my disadvantage."

Ursula scowled. "I can handle my own fights," she argued. Link just looked at her through the corner of his eyes, disbelieving.

Ursula wasn't a fighter. She specialized in long-ranged defense for a reason; she hates dealing damage or getting up close and personal unless she feels threatened or otherwise humiliated. She could take a lot of hits and dodge attacks decently, but she clearly lacked in power and speed. It was good to have a defense, but in order to win a fight you had to have an offense as well.

Almost all of the fights she took place in, she lost. And Link knew that; it's the very reason that he took up the job of being his littermate's personal protector, even though she constantly claims that she doesn't need his help.

"And I'll believe you as soon as you start doing better in Gym," Link replied.

Things fell quiet between the two at that moment. On normal days, the conversation might have kept going; they would have been making jokes here and there and poking fun at each other. They'd be having a good time, just enjoying each other's company.

But it _wasn't_ a normal day, and they _weren't_ having a good time.

Link walked quickly while Ursula continued to follow him silently, head bent down to look at the ground while thinking about how she could possibly help get the money that their family so desperately needed for Adam and Eve's medication.

And a miracle happened.

It was just as they were right in front of the school, about to run through the doors and pray that their teacher wouldn't give them detentions for being so late. Link had tugged on her should to let her know that they had arrived. Ursula lifted her head.

The miracle was right in front of her face, taped up on one of the lamp posts that stood on the edge of the school's property line. It was a flier, a simple one, but one that was effective enough to get her to walk right up to it and pluck it from the lamp post.

**Annual Gijinka Beauty Pageant**

**Be Ms. Gijinka!**

**First Prize is $5000**

**For additional information and a registration form, please visit the following address:**

…

Ursula stopped reading as she heard the bell ring. She looked up to see Link running into the building.

She stuffed the paper in her pocket and ran after him.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**So, thanks a ton for reading, and if you can, please tell me what you think of the new title. (And, keep in mind that it was previously "Pokimono," so don't tell me that its the worst name in the world; I know for a fact that it could be worse.)**

**Thanks! Love y'all! Please review! I'm already almost half-way through with the next chapter, so you shouldn't be waiting too long for an update.**

**Bye!**


	3. Their Tales

**Hey, non-existent readers! Just getting to know some of the other characters that'll be in this story this chapter. This chapter also has its own soundtrack, which I have listed at the bottom author's note. Plus, I have a new summary (Yay!), and hopefully it doesn't suck as much and actually gets people to read it. You can take this as a late Christmas/Chanukah/New Year's present, too.**

**The Kill**

**By: Snowy Refuge**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.**

**Chapter 3**

**The Change**

"_Say it's over, yes, it's over, but I need you anyway. Say you love me, but it's not enough."_

Mila may be one of the prettiest gijinka to live in her community home, heck, maybe even to walk the Earth, but whenever she looked in the mirror, she couldn't help but picture what she'd looked like before evolving.

As a Feebas, she was never the prettiest face to look at. The other kids used to laugh and point at her and call her "Migraine Mila" because the way that her face was shaped made it look as though she always had a horrible headache, despite the fact that her head was clear most of the time. She had tried to study and be smart to make up for her lack of physical appeal at first, but it never worked. Academics just weren't where she was most strongly suited.

She would always go home at night and look at the face of her father, her beautiful, beautiful father, and run up the stairs to her room and cry because she thought that she would never be as pretty as he was. Even her mother, a Cloyster and by no means lovely, was prettier than her. It just wasn't fair that she had to be stuck with such an ugly face, with skin that sagged as if it were dead and purple-brown eyes that stared like a fish. She would come home and tear at her hair, which had always been too thin and made her look as if she was balding to begin with.

She was ugly as a child. That was the simplest way to put it.

She was only glad that her little brother and sister did not have to share the same curse as she did, as they had been born to look like their mother. And, yet, she always felt jealous of the two, who had turned out to be even more beautiful than their mother, even if their looks couldn't compare with their father.

So every day, she would look through fashion magazines and look at the faces of all the beautiful gijinka women that stood in the pictures with colorful skirts and fancy purses. She wanted to be like them.

Her biggest role model from these magazines had been a Mawile woman named Cecile that retired from magazines two years ago due to family complications. Cecile was beautiful by every aspect: her long black hair, her pale skin and curvy body. She usually dressed in classy clothes that hugged her figure and complimented her beautiful red eyes.

She was so beautiful. Mila wanted to be just like that.

And, eventually, she got that appearance that she had been waiting for. Her hair grew thicker and turned a blonde color, and her eyes faded from an ugly purple-brown mix to a blue as clear as lake waters. She grew taller and her eyebrows turned pink and grew so that they looked more like whiskers at the top of her eyes than anything. Even her horrid skin condition began to clear up, and she eventually began to look like a younger, female, and, amazingly enough, _prettier_ version of her father.

It took time, but changes occurred, slowly but surely. By the age of twenty, Mila was no longer an ugly Feebas, but a beautiful Milotic.

But still. She could never shake that image of her childhood face out of her head. Whenever she looked in the mirror, she would see dead skin and a chubby body that refused to lose its fat no matter how many times she went on a diet.

She knew that she was beautiful now; she just never felt like it, even when she was flocked with admirers from all over the gijinka community that she lived in. Men would fall at her feet with flowers and gifts and women wanted so badly to be like her, but it never felt like Mila had imagined it would.

It didn't matter to her how many times the boys that she used to know from school told her that they loved her on a daily basis; Migraine Mila still haunted her. Instead of men that gave her flowers, she saw boys that pointed at her dead-looking face and laughed.

At some point, she had completely lost it and threw things around her room in a fit after looking at herself in the mirror.

Her little sister Coy happened to be walking by her house, on her way to babysit a Dewott boy by the name of Devon, when this happened. There was the sound of something shattering, and a moment later, glass went flying everywhere on Mila's lawn.

Coy's mouth opened in shock as she watched the object that had crashed through the window, sunlight reflecting off of it wildly as its metal surface caught it. Coy stood in shock for a moment, purple eyes wide, and just watched the small silver object. When her senses finally came back to her, she walked over and picked it up.

A silver hair brush. Their father had gotten it for Mila for her seventh birthday.

She approached the house, slowly at first, but then faster and faster, so that she was practically running when she reached Mila's door. It was unlocked, so she had no troubles getting inside.

She could hear screaming upstairs, but it was obvious that Mila had already been through this room. Furniture had been tipped over, and the trashcan in the kitchen was overflowing with hair products, make-up, and food that had yet to even be touched. It was a disaster.

Flabbergasted, Coy was about to storm upstairs and demand why she was throwing such a big fit, when something caught her eye.

A photograph sat untouched on the mantle of her fireplace. The picture itself was recent, and Coy recognized the picture frame because she and Clay, their brother, had given it to her last year as a Christmas present.

They really liked it because, on the frame, it said "Our Beautiful Family." Inside the frame, they had put a picture of the family together. Their mother and father had their arms around each other's shoulders, while Mila had her on hand on the top of Coy's head, the other on Clay's. The two Cloyster siblings, only teenagers at the time, had looked annoyed with their older sister, but smiled nonetheless, while Mila, her beautiful, twenty-seven-year-old self, smiled mischievously. They had picked this picture out because it was one of those rare moments where Mila wasn't flocked by men or acting depressed.

What had bothered Coy, however, was not the picture itself, but the fact that the part of it where Mila's face should have been was cut out.

**Misguided Ghosts**

"_Would someone care to classify our broken hearts and twisted minds, so I can find someone to rely on and run to them, to them, full speed ahead. Oh, you are not useless."_

Ness felt more at home wherever she was making music with Azul. Her little sister would play her guitar, making up tunes, and she would join in with her voice, making up words along the way or just singing on a neutral syllable. Either way, it didn't matter to either of them.

Music was music, no matter which way the lyrics were sung, or how questionable some of the guitar's note patterns seemed.

It was just so… peaceful. It was also the only time she ever got to really bond with her anti-social sister that much.

Azul had always been a bit quiet while she grew, more so on the side of shyness when she was younger, but it had grown into such a hostility towards others over the years to the point where she absolutely refused to speak with anyone other than Ness. Even then, Azul sometimes shut down to her, and she found it hard to coax her out of her shell at times (no pun intended).

Well… Perhaps Azul didn't have a _literal_ shell, but as a Lapras gijinka, they very well could have had a shell on each of their backs, had they been _actual_ Pokémon. This was beside the point, though.

Ness worried about her sister almost constantly; to the point that she tried dragging her out to parties and other social events with her, but almost nothing seemed to open her up except music.

Azul could play the guitar beautifully, ever since she found hers lying out in a dumpster by the school when she was six. Their uncle Glen had been more than willing to let her keep it, as it seemed to make her happy. And in those dark times of their life, right after their father died of illness, Arceus knew that Azul needed some happiness in her life.

Uncle Glen was by no means a handsome man. Being a Cacturne, much of his appearance was rather ragged and demanded attention from anyone that passed by on the streets. His face was covered in scars from battles that had never existed and, when threatened, needles could shoot out from his arms. It was typically something that kept most people away from him, something that resulted in a reclusive personality. He didn't really talk much, something that Ness personally thought rubbed off on her sister since they had spent so much time with him as kids.

Still, they adored their uncle to no end, mostly because he was like the Lone Pokémon Ranger that they had read about in comics as children. He was tall and lean and wore a hat and big red scarf to cover up his face (partially because he didn't want to draw attention to any of his features) and even grew a little bit of stubble. They just thought that he was too cool; they idolized him.

But after their father's death, living with their idol had lost a bit of the luster that it once held. The first few months, he had been nothing to them but kind and understanding to their needs, but unfortunately, his appearance didn't really help much. What was once their idol soon became Ness and Azul's nightmares. They dreamed of his yellow eyes, of what looked like little stitch markings at the corners of his mouth. They even dreamed of the Lone Pokémon Ranger coming up from behind them, taking out a gun, and pulling the trigger.

Ness supposed that this must have been the reason that their uncle stopped tucking them into bed, scared that he would only frighten them even more. Still, it hurt to see that her beloved uncle had become so distant from her over the years. She was eighteen now, for Arceus's sake! She wouldn't be having any nightmares anymore!

But that was just the way things were now. And, somehow, that quietness and lack of interaction that he'd had with Azul must have done something to her, for she quickly started acting the same way. She avoided crowds, sat alone during lunch, and looked ahead with a straight face whenever someone spoke to her, as if she could see right through them.

It just wasn't healthy!

She went over everything that they had done as children to try and come up with answers for this, but Uncle Glen was the only conclusion that she could come up with. Even then, she thought that it was a bit too much of a drastic change to have occurred over this one little thing.

Ness tried banging her head on her desk, but forgot to take into account the small horn that jutted out of her head and nearly drilled a hole into it.

She stared at the small dent before she caught a whirl of red and black out of the corner of her eyes. Spirit had bounded inside the room and took his seat next to her with an exasperated expression on his face.

"_Let me guess…"_ She drawled out as she took in his frazzled appearance. _"Ursula giving you more trouble?"_

"_You have _no_ idea,"_ he muttered before dropping his head face-first onto his desk. Ness found herself envying him for the action.

He lifted his head with a long sigh and rolled his sky blue eyes over to her, taking in her disheveled appearance. Her long blue hair was in a violent mess, compared to most mornings, where it was straightened and brushed out perfectly, and he could see little purple bags under her eyes. _"Azul?"_

"_Please don't remind me,"_ she said. _"She's being so…"_ she trailed off, unable to find a word to describe her unwillingness to converse through anything but music. Maybe stubborn? _"I just don't want to think about her at the moment."_

He nodded and looked away before he caught sight of some hair that was sticking out in front of his face and, agitated, pushed it away.

"_So what is going on with Ursula?"_ She asked, slightly curious on his status with the girl. Ever since the two were assigned to sit next to one another in class, he would talk nonstop about Ursula Umbreon: how beautiful she was, how cute she was whenever she smiled, how smart she was, and how she usually looked like she could use a hug. The boy obviously adored her to no end.

Spirit groaned. _"I think she's got a new boyfriend or something…"_

Ness could feel her eyebrows jump up high above her hairline. "What makes you think that?"

"_I talked with her before school,"_ he told her. _"She was acting really weird, weirder than normal. She completely spazzed out on me when I tried to figure out what was wrong, and then this Absol dude care out of nowhere and attacked me!"_ His hands went up to the air in anger. _"I think she's dating him or something, because I pretended to leave and stayed back to watch, and they were just sitting there on a bench, talking all awkwardly like a new couple."_ His face twisted in annoyance.

Ness rolled her eyes and ignored the bit about the Absol for the moment. _"You're just being overdramatic. And I'm sure her must have had a reason for attacking you. Did you do anything to provoke him?"_

At this, Spirit looked a bit uncomfortable. _"Well, I didn't do anything to provoke _him_, but…"_

"_You _did_ provoke Ursula,"_ she finished with a sigh. _"What did you do?"_

"_Well…" _Spirit frowned._ "I was trying to figure out why she was so upset; I mean, she was crying for absolutely no reason, and it was bringing me down, too. And then she must have got mad at me, because she used Echoed Voice."_

Ness gasped. _"She _didn't_."_

"_She did."_

Eyes widened, Ness pressed for details. _"What did you do?"_

"_First, I yelled at her,"_ he confessed. _"And then she got mad and used it again, and…"_ He trailed off at this part. _"Well, you've never had Echoed Voice used on you more than one time in a row; it hurt like hell."_

Ness's eyes widened. _"Spirit!"_ She shrieked just a bit too loudly. A few other students looked in their direction before going back to chatting with their friends. The girl lowered her voice a bit before continuing. _"What did you attack her with?"_

"_Focus Blast,"_ he admitted weakly.

She couldn't hide the look of disgust that overcame her face. Being part ice-type, Ness shared the same fear of fighting-type moves that Ursula had. It must have been horrifying for the poor girl. _"I cannot _believe_ you did that!"_ Spirit looked down, ashamed. _"Ursula is a very sensitive girl; you can't just go throwing around Focus Blasts like that, or you'll scare her away!"_

"_I know,"_ he growled, annoyed that she was most likely voicing the very things that he was thinking in his own mind. _"I was going to kiss her today…"_

Now Ness could only look at him with pity and pat his shoulder. As an extra measure, she moved on from her chiding. _"And did you say that it was an _Absol_ that attacked you? How bizarre!"_

Spirit smiled at her. _"I know, right? I was pretty surprised when he popped up. What are the chances of an _Absol_ of all things to suddenly come in for a visit?"_

Ness snorted. _"Almost none. So was he tough?"_

At this, the boy's mouth twisted into a frown. Rather regretfully, he told her, _"He kinda kicked my ass."_

Ness laughed loudly. _"Well, that should teach you for trying to hit a girl! It's not very gentlemanly."_

The Zoroark boy smirked and elbowed her in the ribs, which she returned with bumping his shoulder. This turned into a full-out war between the two which resulted Ness eventually almost pushing Spirit out of his seat. _"OK,"_ he said, putting his hands up in defeat. _"I surrender."_

Ness crossed her arms and held her head high in pride like a queen, then lost the stiff posture and stuck her tongue out at him rather childishly.

"_You ready to tell me what's going on with Azul now?"_

Suddenly, Spirit's face was serious and it took a moment for Ness to process his words. But when she did, she frowned, lightly chewing her bottom lip out of nervousness. _"She's been locking herself in her room a lot more than usual. Whenever I ask her what's up, she just closes off from me."_ She buried her face in her hands. _"I just want to know where I went wrong with her; that's all."_

The boy's frown twisted into a grimace. _"It's not your fault that she's so quiet,"_ he told her. _"I think she's just going through one of those fazes; last year I was totally convinced that I was too cool for my dad and little sister. She's probably going through the same thing."_

Ness frowned at him. _"That doesn't help, Spirit."_ If anything, it only made her feel worse. So Azul thought that she was too cool for her?

Spirit scratched the back of his head. _"Well, what else am I supposed to say? I know for a fact that it isn't your fault; you've already shown me that you have superior skills when it comes to taking care of your sister than I do."_

At this, a small smile cracked on her lips and she held her arms open widely. _"Oh, get over here and give me a hug, you big softie, you!"_

He allowed her to hug him briefly, and when she pulled back, she gave him a big, broad smile, which he returned. But then something caught his eyes. They followed whatever it was that was behind Ness's back like a Braviary for a moment before darting back to the girl in front of him. She was about to ask what he was staring at when he suddenly leaned forward an kissed her. Very suddenly. Very unexpectedly. She hadn't seen it coming in the slightest.

She pushed him back for a moment and scowled. _"What-"_

He put a finger over her lips and shushed her_. "Just play along for a second, OK?"_ He whispered, his eyes darting over to one of the desks in front of them. She was pretty sure Ursula sat somewhere up there.

Instantly, she understood and rolled her eyes. Was he really trying to get the girl jealous? _"This is the most low-down, over-used trick in the book. Are you actually serious?"_

He smiled embarrassedly. _"Actually, yes. You don't mind, do you?"_

Ness sighed and rolled her eyes. _"You know that this is probably going to backfire somehow, right?"_ He shrugged his shoulders, just as she heard the door to the room clicking. The teacher just entered. _"Whatever."_ She turned towards the board, where Mr. Tropius was just beginning his lesson on gijinka history. Well… the bits and pieces of gijinka history that anyone knew, anyway.

When she saw that Ursula looked back in their direction, she made sure to lean her head onto Spirit's shoulder, just for good measure. The girl looked around for something in the area for a moment before mouthing something that looked like _'I need to talk to you after class'_ and turned back to the front.

Halfway through class, something hit the back of her head. She turned around and found Link Espeon glaring at her and pointing to Spirit. She looked down and found a paper ball at her feet that she quickly picked up. She looked back up at him before passing it to the directed target.

Spirit read it with an un-amused face before writing something, crumpling the paper back up, and throwing it back to him.

This exchange lasted for a while before the teacher caught them and had them bring the paper up to read to the class.

Link read his lines, followed by Spirit with his.

"_**My sister told me you were bothering her this morning. Leave her alone."**_

"_Not my fault your sister's hot."_

"_**It's also not my fault that you're an ass."**_

"I'm_ the ass? Try looking in the mirror."_

"_**You've got a lot of nerve, Zoroark."**_

"_Look who's talking, psychic-type."_

"_**Are you actually **_**trying**_** to piss me off?"**_

"_You weren't already? Sorry, I can hardly tell with that retarded face you give me all the time."_

"_**Look, just leave my sister alone."**_

"_Don't feel like it now. Maybe when someone hotter transfers."_

"_**Then at least stop cuddling up to Lapras. Are you trying to pass yourself off as a man-whore?"**_

"_Hey. If the glove fits, man. If the glove fits."_

"… _**What the **_**hell**_** is that supposed to mean?!"**_

It was at about that point that they got caught. It was also at about that point that Ness was hiding her face in her hands with an undeniable blush covering her cheeks, unable to look up in shame. Just _what_ had possessed them to bring _her_ into all of this?

She felt even worse for Ursula, though. After Spirit and Link were sent to Principal Swellow's office, she was so embarrassed that Mr. Tropius excused her so that she could run to the bathroom, leaving the room in whispers. The poor girl just had it publically announced to the class that Spirit Zoroark had been hitting on her and that her brother was being over-protective of her. Not only this, but they got in some big, stupid argument over her, too.

Honestly, Ness thought that, had he known what was written on that paper, Mr. Tropius would never have made them read it aloud.

But he did. And she didn't think that Ursula would be recovering from that for quite a while afterwards. Even after class, when she went to the bathrooms, she could hear the faint sound of crying coming from one of the stalls.

She was about to knock on the stall and talk to her when she caught the sound of a guitar playing from the halls. Instantly, she rushed out, smiling, to find her little sister had brought her guitar to school and was currently playing a song.

She had brought out a stool so that she could sit while she played. Head dipped over the neck of her instrument, bangs hanging over the side of her face, brows curved into a line of concentration. She couldn't help but notice how beautiful she was, even though she was only dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. Her little bob cut was just too adorable, especially paired with curled blue ears, and the way that she remained focused on her music only added to her beauty.

So she bounded over and joined her.

This one song wasn't made up, but one that she heard Azul blasting in her room a lot recently, probably trying to figure out the acoustics so that she could play it. It was a lovely song, very calming. So she tried to piece together the words and, after Azul glanced up at her and nodded, she let it out.

"_I'm going away for a while, but I'll be back; don't try to follow me…"_

Arceus, Ness loved her sister. Now, if only she would stop trying to shut her out of her life like she was a complete stranger.

**Give Me a Sign**

"_I'll keep you alive, if you show me the way. For ever- and ever, the scars will remain. I'm falling apart. Leave me here forever in the dark. God, help me, I've come undone."_

Rein was having another nightmare. Iris could tell by the way that he kept tossing and turning in his sleep when she returned to their room. Sometimes that long, orange hair of his would light up in flame, but then it would die down and he would go back to whispering names.

Sometimes, he would call out her name like a cry for help, and others he would scream out in his native tongue, the call of a Ponyta or Rapidash. She couldn't understand a word that he said when he spoke like this, but she was sure that they were anything but pleasant.

As she clicked the door behind her, Iris looked off to the side to see Temptress watching her with flickering golden eyes, sitting with her back straight against the cushioned chair of their hotel room.

Towards the left of Iris was Night, sleeping on the dusty roll-out couch that they had been supplied with. His long, dark ears twitched while he slept, and Iris could have sworn she heard him growl at something before he curled into a ball and became silent.

She swallowed a lump that had risen in her throat and looked towards Rein, where his nightmare was continuing, and adjusted her skirt before looking back to Temptress. The woman took her in, let her eyes graze over the bruises on her arms, and looked back up at the younger woman's light brown eyes.

Iris held her gaze for a moment, but immediately broke eye contact when she nodded and headed straight for Rein.

The boy had started thrashing about now, and Iris got there just in time to calm him, gently shaking his arm and pleadingly whispering his name in attempt to wake him. After a moment, his movements stopped altogether, but she could tell that he was awake.

"_Rein,"_ she started slowly. _"Honey, are you OK?"_

The boy's head turned in her direction, and he blinked at her. _"Iris?"_ He asked.

Iris nodded and scooped him up into a hug, which he gratefully returned. In moments, she was able to feel her clothes dampen with his tears, but she never let him go. She stroked his hair and waited for him to stop crying.

Meanwhile, Temptress continued to watch from her seat, knowing that Iris was their best option to calm the child down. Rein had taken a liking to the girl ever since he and his mother were found out in the wild seven years ago, so it did seem like the best possible choice.

Still, she couldn't help but wish that he would suck it up a little and stop crying all the time. Besides Master Dean and Iris, Rein was what kept Night up so late. He was becoming deprived of sleep lately, and so it made him grouchy in the mornings and lethargic by noon. And dealing with that was enough of a pain as it was. They couldn't be sending him out on twenty-mile hikes a day without expecting him to pass out somewhere around the tenth mile.

But she supposed that it was a good thing they'd heard about another wall only five miles away, then.

Mistress Mira had gotten this news from a merchant that lived in the town they were currently staying at. He said that the people at the wall wore clothes that covered much of their bodies and faces, and that they wouldn't allow him to pass through. The biggest sign, however, was the big red flower that he claimed was painted onto the giant door leading into the gate.

It was another community, no doubt about it.

The only thing they had to do tomorrow was look for it and infiltrate. Usual business. No big deal. _After_ that was when things would become difficult…

She looked back at Iris and Rein. They were silently crying in each other's arms now. Pitiful.

They were supposed to be resting now, not having a sob fest. Why couldn't Rein simply let things go? His mother was killed seven years ago, not just yesterday. His behavior was a disgrace.

And Iris- Iris was even worse. She had been bred into a family of gijinka hunters, just as Temptress had been, so she should know her place by now, after twenty-three years of living this way. Striving for things as stupid as freedom was a waste of her time.

But deep in her heart, Temptress knew that Iris wouldn't be letting go, not while she was under Master Dean's control. The man was a lustful, abusive tyrant, and even Temptress, who had by that point learned obedience towards her masters above all, felt nothing but disgust for the man. She could only be grateful to belong to Mistress Mira rather than the low-life filth that she was convinced Iris had been with just before she walked into their shabby motel room.

She knew Iris wanted her freedom more than anything, but she also knew that Iris wouldn't even know what to do if she _did_ have freedom. The girl knew nothing about independence; the only life that she had ever known was that in human servitude. If it ever came to it, Iris wouldn't be able to last an hour on her own.

And their trip to this community would help break the girl, too. The last time they went, she had obeyed all commands for a week straight before she began to try arguing with things that Dean said again.

With this thought calming her mind, Temptress slowly closed her eyes and looked back to the pair of scared children that sat there on the bed, hugging and crying to one another.

"_Go to bed,"_ she commanded. _"Now."_

They turned in her direction, Lily's big brown eyes and Rein's wild red ones staring her down with a mixture of fear and resentment. _Temptress is the traitor,_ she could imagine them thinking. _Temptress chose the humans over us._

Maybe so. But did that really make _her_ the traitor of their group?

Master Dean may have been cruel to her at times, but at least he _fed_ Iris. Master Nathan might have killed Rein's mother, but he _consoled_ him afterwards. And Temptress had taken care of Mistress Mira since she was a child; she was practically her daughter, or a sort of younger sister that she'd never had. Night never seemed to have any qualms with Master Keith, either.

So what was wrong with these two? Why did they just sit there, watching her like some scared, stupid little Buneary that had been caught eating off a hunter's front lawn? Did they not hear her?

"_I said to go to sleep,"_ she demanded. _"We have a big day ahead of us."_

Upon hearing the sharp tone of her voice, the two nearly leapt into the air, but after a moment, Iris nodded to her. She leaned down so that she could whisper something into Rein's ear and, just like a mother would, kissed him on the forehead, just to the side of the cream-colored horn that stuck out in the middle of it.

Rein was back to sleep in less than a minute, and, the expression on her face showing her dissatisfaction, Iris looked at Temptress with a small, sad frown overtaking her lips. The older woman motioned for her to come closer, as it looked as if she wanted to say something.

Iris walked over to her with small, careful steps and, once she was in front of her, adjusted her skirt a little, obviously trying to hide the tear in it with her hand. _"Why do you feel the need to be so harsh on him?" _She questioned, an uneasy tone edging her voice.

She teetered on her feet while waiting for Temptress to say something in return. She had such a straight, unreadable face. _What was Temptress thinking?_ She wondered. _Why was she like this, cruel and seemingly emotionless? _Iris could never help but wonder just what it was that Mira had done to Temptress to break her so badly.

"_The boy needs to grow up,"_ Temptress told her blandly. _"He's almost an adult, now."_

Iris could feel a cold sweat break out on the back of her neck. "_He's only fourteen!"_ She argued weakly.

"_Yes, and by the time I was fifteen, I was every bit as mature as I am now. Age is no excuse."_

Now Iris grew silent, staring at Temptress with a long, pitying stare that the elder of the two loathed. _"Just what did she _do_ to you?"_ She asked.

It was Iris's turn to receive the pitying stare now. _"Dear child, Mistress Mira has done nothing wrong to me in all of the twenty-seven years that she has lived."_ Temptress shook her head sadly and sighed when looking back at Iris's lively, but ever-frightened, eyes. _"Why must you always insist that our humans are evil? I love our owners; they are truly kind people. Well…" _She turned her head to the side slightly and covered her now up-turned mouth as she whispered to Lily._ "Dean aside, that is. He's a rather disgusting creature, isn't he?"_

Iris looked down at her skirt and fidgeted uncomfortably under Temptress's golden eyes, suddenly unnerved by both her sudden devilish smile and the bold comment that she had made.

She cleared her throat. _"I would probably be punished for answering honestly,"_ she managed.

Had she said anything else, Temptress would have reported it, anyway.

Without another word, Iris crept noiselessly across the room and slipped under the covers of the bed that everyone agreed that she would be using for the night, but never closed her eyes.

She was using them to stay in a deadlock with Temptress's the entire night.

**Dying Youth**

"_I can't let you go. Slow down, don't leave."_

There were those children again, playing out in the woods just outside of her house. Her ears were able to pick up their laughter, the treading of their small feet against the dirt. One was missing. It must have been that obnoxious little Dewott boy. That just left the two Eevee twins.

Ember picked up the tray of tea and walked out onto the porch to listen more. She loved listening to the children as they played; she found a sort of calm in it that she had never found in any other activity she had taken part of.

So the Ninetales woman placed the tray out on the small table in the middle of the porch and poured her tea into a cup, watching as the steam rose into the crisp winter air. She shivered at she removed her fingers from the tea pot and drew her soft tails around her body for more warmth. It took a moment, but then she felt the familiar spring of light flames dancing across her skin. A small smile took her lips as she sighed.

Did she hate winter? No. She _loathed_ it.

As a fire-type, Ember simply enjoyed warmer weather, compared to the freezing temperatures that she always endured during the winters in this place. She'd been almost everywhere in her life- out in the mountains, to the grassy plains, to other communities much like the one she lived in now, and even to the realm of humans- but she wasn't quite sure what possessed her into letting her husband talk her into staying in this place.

She sighed as she looked into her tea cup, watching her distorted reflection. She stared back at her red eyes, the two creamy ears that stood on the top of her head and twitched in the cold, bitter wind.

It was the same reflection that she'd been looking at for the past hundred years or so. The same pale skin, thin face, high cheek bones, and big, round lips. The same tight, lady-like ponytail that sat tied behind her head. It was just a step down from the up-tight bun that she'd been used to.

How much longer would she be staring at this same face? She'd imagined that it would be about another fifty years before she even looked as if she was going into her thirties, but she hoped that it would be sooner than that.

In all reality, it would possibly be longer.

She looked as if she had just left her teens, something that she hated about her appearance. She only wished that she could finally age, or that she could somehow have Fang inherit the same slow-aging process that she endured. Maybe then they would be able to grow old together, to live together in their empty house, not needing any company but that of each other.

But, of course this wasn't possible. Ember would outlive him by several hundred years; that she had no doubt in her mind about. She was a Ninetales, so her lifespan was considerably broader than that of her Arcanine husband, whom she presumed would wouldn't even live to his fifties, with the way that he scarfed down beer and sake and just about any other form of alcohol that he could get his hands on as if he were a drunkard.

Well, she may have been exaggerating, but that didn't mean to say that she approved of his drinking habits. At least he knew well enough not to get himself roaring drunk and do something stupid.

Ember smiled at the thought of her husband, her dear, kind, and sometimes stupid, but always endearing Fang.

Small smile still on her lips, Ember lifted the tea cup to her mouth, just as her ears picked up at the sound of the porch door creaking open behind her. She had just managed to place the cup down when her husband came up from behind.

"_Hey, Embs!"_ Suddenly, his arms were encased around her abdomen in a hug. The man's loudness started Ember, and for a split second, she felt the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end. But then she felt his face in her hair, his chin brushing by her ears, and she couldn't help but smile just a little.

Her head tilted upwards, so that she could look at him. _"Welcome home, Fang."_ He paused for a moment as he hummed and kissed her forehead in response. _"… I should pour you a cup, too,"_ she began to get up, but the Arcanine man shook his head at her and lifted a bottle in front of her face.

"_I went ahead and grabbed a beer before heading out here."_

Ember rolled her eyes at him, but smiled nonetheless. _"Still, it wasn't good manners on my part. As your wife, I should have everything ready for you by the time you come home from work."_

Fang chuckled lightly at this. _"We're not in the eighteen-hundreds anymore, Embs,"_ following this, he took a swig of his beer and got up to sit cross-legged in front of her chair. _"There's no need to cater to my every wish if you don't want to."_

The woman shook her head and knelt down in front of him, being sure to tuck her feet beneath her body as she sat on the cold wood. _"But I want to make you happy,"_ she insisted. _"I told you that I would be the best wife that a man could ask for, didn't I?"_

He leaned forward and cupped her small cheeks in his large, warm hands as gently as he possibly could. _"You already _are_."_ He paused and took note of how her cheeks were cold, before tugging off his dark green jacket and draping it over her shoulders. _"What are you doing out here without a coat, anyway? You hate this kind of weather."_

Ember shrugged, and looked off at the forest, where the sounds of the children's laughter could still be heard. Fang also turned in the direction that she was looking at, and his large orange ears twitched as he concentrated.

After a moment of listening, he turned his brown eyes back to his wife. _"Hey, Ember-"_

"_Please just leave it, Fang,"_ she told him. The Arcanine man was able to clearly see the mix of resentment and sadness in the woman's eyes. He knew better than to push her.

It was quiet between the two for a moment, as Ember pulled her husband's coat closer around her arms and shivered a little.

"_Do you want to go inside?"_ Fang asked, watching as she rubbed her covered arms. Ember shook her head. _"Then how about we go for a walk? It could warm you up."_

Ember nodded and stood with Fang, allowing him to put an arm around her shoulders as they walked out into the forest with no real path to follow. It was a slow, quiet walk, where they listened to the calls of wild Pokémon and the children that were playing not too far from where they were.

Not long after they left, the sun fell beyond the horizon and the sounds of the children stopped. They had gone home. It was at this point that Ember honestly wished to return home, but she could see that Fang still wanted to keep walking, so she said nothing, even as the temperature around them began to drop drastically.

She still let Fang bury his face in her hair, let herself hide her head in his chest. Let him whisper that he loved her, and that nothing would ever change that.

Yet she didn't hear, didn't respond. Her ears were not on his words; her nose not on the scent of the woods that clung onto him like a baby clings to its mother.

Fang could tell by her lack of reaction. He couldn't hear her heart flutter from within its chest, as it usually did when he said things like this. Her small hands, balled into fists around his shirt, were eerily still.

He shook her shoulder gently once, and then again when she didn't respond. When he began to shake her shoulders harder, she lifted her head from his chest, but didn't look at him. Her eyes were off in the direction of the giant stone walls that stood over the trees in the distance, the very walls that were made to keep humans out of their world.

"_What is it, Embs?"_

Fang whispered to his wife. The strange attitude that she was putting up was beginning to scare him. Ember wasn't the type of person to purposely ignore someone, so there must have been something that distracted her.

The Ninetales woman's creamy ears flickered for a moment, and her husband watched as she continued to stare off into the distance. _"Do you hear something?"_

Ember's red eyes continued to be transfixed with the walls that loomed over the treetops, but Fang's words must have reached her, for she made a small shake of her head. _"No, but…"_ She trailed off uneasily with a small tremor to her voice. The fists that held onto Fang's jacket began to shake suddenly, and the Arcanine man couldn't help but grasp her tiny fingers in his.

"_Ember,"_ his voice commanded her full attention. She looked up at him with wide, alert eyes. _"What is it?"_

Fang could _still_ see everything about her at that moment, years after it had happened. He could see the whiteness of her knuckles, the lump in her throat that she refused to get rid of by swallowing, how, despite the fact that she was watching him, she wouldn't look him in the eyes. And the way that those big red eyes of hers were filled with something that he had up until that point never before seen from her: fear.

Most of all, he could still hear her chilled whisper as something that resembled the sound of a Murkrow sounded from around them.

"_I smell blood."_

**Author's Note:**

**So, yeah. In case you're wondering, I purposely gave close to no physical description of Iris and Temptress, so that you can guess what Pokémon they are. Just a little guessing game for the eight-or-so people that actually read up to chapter two. **

**Also, there's going to be one other big character, but… Well, I tried writing her story up and just couldn't make it work. So I'll just have her explain it for us in later chapters.**

**Oh, and the soundtrack for this chapter:**

**~Mila: The Change; Evanescence**

**~Ness and Azul: Misguided Ghosts; Paramore (The song Azul and Ness were playing at the end was also this.)**

**~Iris and Temptress: Give Me a Sign; Breaking Benjamin**

**~Ember and Fang: Dying Youth; 10 Years (Currently my favorite song. I highly recommend listening to this.)**

**Please favorite, alert, and, most importantly, review. I'd like to know what I'm doing wrong. Or right. Whatevs. Anyways, thanks for reading, and (Merry/Happy) late (Christmas/Chanukah/New Years)! I'll see you next chapter!**


	4. Arceus Spare Us

**Oh… Oh Arceus… I… I've got reviewers! *Tears* And here I thought that I would never have the privilege of getting a review on this story! Granted, one was anonymous, but I'll take it! Thanks so much, nightrader1234 and my anonymous reviewer Fulmoon, for making me _so_ happy! You seriously made my day by taking the time to tell me you liked my story. It means **_**so much**_**, so thank you. I'm just surprised that I actually have readers… Anyway, I hope that you guys enjoy this chapter, too! Also, read this chapter and, please tell me, should one of the genres be changed to mystery/horror? I'd really like to know.**

**The Kill**

**By: Snowy Refuge**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.**

**Chapter 4**

As soon as the sounds of footsteps had left the girl's bathroom, Ursula took a chance at peeking out of her stall. Empty.

With a sigh of relief, she straightened up and wiped her eyes as she moved her way to the sink. When she began splashing water on her face, she felt a little better, but there was no way of erasing the puffy redness that had taken over her face. The second that anyone took a look at her, they would know that she had been crying.

Maybe she should just skip school today and tell Valentine about her idea when she got home; it would sure make things easier for her. But, then, if Lin and Margot found out, they'd throw a huge fit.

But if she stayed, then she'd have to watch as rumors spread about Link and Spirit, about how they must have some sort of freaky obsession with her, and how…

She covered her face with her hands at the thought of what had occurred in class less than half an hour ago. Then the picture of Adam and Eve popped into her head, and she practically threw her hands away from her eyes. She _really_ didn't need all of this to be going on at once.

After drying her face and taking one final look at the mirror, Ursula took a tentative step out into the hallway and looked around at the people. There was just one person that really looked at her, but he was someone from her class, so it was probably safe to venture through the school for now. She observed the crowd again and perked her ears, listening.

"_We're just misguided ghosts, traveling endlessly. The ones we trusted the most pushed us far away…"_

She paused for a moment as Ness Lapras sang to an unfamiliar song before dashing through the crowd of teens to her next class. With any luck, she would be able to make it without any inconveniences.

She almost made it, too, before she bumped into Cypress Serperior.

Cypress was tall, taller than most of the other students that attended high school, and was often standoffish compared to the rest of the freshman class.

So, naturally, when she happened to bump into him in the halls, she first bounded back a little, startled by his height. Eevee evolutions were naturally short, so of course he towered over her like some sort of… well, _tower_. It was only logic that she wouldn't even come up to his chin.

The second thing Ursula did was notice that he wasn't alone. The only person that Cypress ever socialized openly with in a friendly sort of manner, the daughter of their community's very own Police Chief Marsh Houndoom, Susan Quilava, was by his side watching her with arms crossed over her chest and a scowl on her face.

The third thing that she took time to let come to her mind was how Cypress bent down to pick something from off the ground- the flier that she had taken and stuffed into her pocket with little care. As the Serperior boy crouched down, he read the paper, raising an eyebrow, and looked at her with some odd expression that remained hostile yet skeptic at the same time.

Grimacing, Ursula snatched the paper from her underclassman's hands; this was none of his business, and he had no right to silently criticize her. He didn't even know why she had it in the first place.

Susan cast Ursula a warning glare as she stood up, but said nothing. The girl wasn't about to pick a random fight with an upperclassman today, but she has been known to do so before. And, judging by the fact that her ponytail wasn't up in a mess of flames, she appeared to be in a relatively good mood. For now.

With one final glance at the two, Ursula wordlessly pushed her way between them and made another bolt for her class. This time, she made it, and the rest of the school day went on smoothly.

* * *

Ursula was _really_ hoping that it would be Link that made it out of the principal's office first, but she had just the amount of misfortune for it to be Spirit.

Upon spotting her sitting on a bench outside of Principal Taillow's office after school, the Zoroark boy strode up to her with his shoulders slouched over and his hands stuffed in his pockets. He was standing over her, his posture only making him look more intimidating than he really was.

Ursula shifted on the bench, slightly unnerved, and tried her best to ignore his presence the best that she knew how. She stared at the ground right next to his feet.

"Sorry about attacking you this morning." She couldn't help it; she looked up. There was a small smile on the boy's lips, and he didn't look too particularly sorry.

The Umbreon girl's mouth twisted in distaste as she glared up at him. "I'm not talking to you," she said.

Now Spirit frowned, cocking his head to the side as Ursula turned her head away from him. It was childish, she knew it, but she couldn't help it. She had enough on her mind right now, and Spirit could go jump off a cliff, for all she cared.

The Zoroark boy bent down so that he was at eye-level with her. "Are you mad at me?" He teased, poking her shoulder. Out of the corner of her eyes, Ursula could see that he was smirking. "You know, you're kinda cute when you act like a three-year-old…"

Her head snapped up at him and she was about to spit- honestly and truly _spit_- on his face when the sound of the principal's door opening reached her ears and the two of them turned to see a sour-faced Link.

He shared a long, unwavering staring contest with Spirit until, finally, the Espeon boy narrowed his eyes and jerked his head in the direction of the school's exit. "Scram, Zoroark. I'm not putting up with anymore of your shit today."

Spirit stared at him a bit more, seemingly unimpressed with the threat, before shrugging his shoulders and doing at told. That just left the two siblings to work things out.

The two stared at each other for a few moments, debating what should or shouldn't be said, before Link grabbed hold of Ursula's hand, pulled her off of the bench, and started pulling her back out of the school building, towards their home. "Sorry about what happened this morning," he muttered, face red with embarrassment, as Ursula tried to keep up with him.

The Umbreon girl's mouth pressed into a tight frown, but she said nothing.

"Didn't you say that you needed to tell me something?"

Ursula paused for a moment before deciding to share her idea. "I think I've come up with a way to get some money."

Link's wide purple eyes wound back over to her. "Seriously? What is it?"

His twin sister fidgeted for a moment before retracting her hand into her pocket and pulling out the flier she had picked up that morning, passing it on to her brother's awaiting palms.

The boy read it with a frown on his face, and then looked back at her. "No offense, but it seems like a kind of stupid idea."

There was no mistaking the scowl on Ursula's face. "Why would you say that?"

"For one thing, we don't have time or funds to get you dressed up for some stupid little pageant," he told her, scowling right back. "For another, there's no guarantee that we'll win. I don't mean to be offensive, but you're not the most charming _or_ amiable person in the world."

"I didn't mean it for me, anyway," she shot back, feeling her ears flatten against her head in shame. "Margot's been dying to do something like this for a while, and I'm sure Valentine wouldn't mind trying, either." She paused for a moment. "And I'm pretty sure that it mentioned having outfits supplied for contestants, as well, so we wouldn't have to spend money on dresses or kimonos or anything."

He still didn't look too convinced; his expression was every bit as stolid as it had been before she had said anything. "We should talk about this with Fallon; maybe he'll get you to come to your senses."

Ursula's hair prickled in anger as the fact that Link wouldn't listen to her, but she followed after him as he led the way back home, anyway.

It seemed like a tiresome, endless walk back to the house. And, on the way back, they paid no mind that, just down the street from where they lived, a woman sat on the front porch steps to her home and watched with weary, anxious eyes.

* * *

Shadow Absol was on a mission, although he wasn't quite sure just _what_ that mission was yet.

All that he knew was that he was getting a bad- no, that wasn't quite the right word; the feeling had more of a "horrendous" quality to it- vibe from the current gijinka community that he decided to travel though. And, as an Absol, his intuition was generally very good; he had never known a day in his entire life where he'd gotten a bad feeling and nothing bad happened.

_Never_.

And, this horrible, overwhelming feeling that he'd been getting for the entire past week had only grown tenfold when he found this place. This had to be it- something bad was going to happen here; he just knew it.

But there was the problem again; he didn't know what it was. He _never_ knew what it was. And even if he ever did somehow figure out what it was, he would be physically incapable of doing so, since his vocal cords had been nothing but deadweight since the day he was born. Only adding salt to the fire, he was illiterate. It was pretty much impossible for him to communicate with anyone through anything but actions.

It was just so aggravating; why was he so useless?

He stopped in the streets, sighing silently, and observed the world around him; it was so much different than the one he was from. Back out in the mountains, he'd never had all of this hustle and bustle, just Echo and a few others who had helped take care of her throughout the years.

Over here, in this "secret community," gijinka of every kind had gathered around him, talking and playing with one another. A Ninetales woman came out of a store, carrying a box of cookies and a carton of milk; a Glaceon boy walked gloomily alongside an equally distraught Leafeon girl (probably his littermate, judging by their close facial features); he even managed to spot a Lapras strumming at the strings of an oddly-shaped object, producing a strange, yet soothing, sound.

This world was so new, so different. How could he possibly get by here?

He turned around and was about to continue walking when he accidentally bumped into someone and looked up to see a group four people staring at him.

The woman he had bumped into, a tall, white-haired woman with tiny blue flames leaping from the top of her head, simply narrowed her golden eyes and brusquely walked past him, back straight and head held high.

The woman's company, a teenage Rapidash girl, a woman in what appeared to be in her early twenties, and a disgruntled Mightyena man, all had different reactions. Whereas the man grumbled something under his breath and followed after the white-haired woman, the other girls stayed back to make a brief apology.

"_I'm so sorry!"_ The teenager bellowed, her boyish features disorted in worrry and- was that _fear_? _"We didn't mean to- I mean- please forgive her; she didn't mean to be so rude!"_ She hesitated for a moment, and then shook her long, flaming red hair, and chased after the other two. _"T- Indigo! Please wait up."_

The other woman simply bowed. Shadow briefly noted that there was a large pink flower setting atop of her long, green hair, but it appeared to be slightly wilted. It gave an overall sad, dreary appearance to her.

She, much like that redheaded boy he had fought earlier and the other woman from just a moment ago, seemed strangely foreign to Shadow. He had never seen any Pokémon that they resembled before, so they must have been from that other region (it was called Unova, wasn't it?) that he had heard about in stories from some of the people that he had lived with in the mountains. He'd heard that not much gets in or out of that place.

Other than gijinka, of course.

The woman rose from her bow and looked up at him with odd, saddened brown eyes. _"My deepest apologies."_ After that, she turned away from him and ran off after the rest of her group.

Shadow turned to watch her leave, mystified.

* * *

Lynx Luxray was worried about Elsa, although it probably didn't look like it.

Usually, most people would take a look at Lynx, how he always seemed so relaxed, what with his eyelids that typically drooped over his golden, red-rimmed, eyes and shaggy black hair, but he felt the emotions that any other person would feel, and that included worry.

When Elsa showed up for work at the power plant that day, she had seemed distant and unresponsive, which wasn't like her in the least. Usually, she was a lot more talkative, maybe not a complete chatterbox, but she at least spoke to him. But all that she was doing that day was staring at the machine she was powering, not noticing Lynx whenever he said something every now and then from the machine right next to hers.

Daniel Raichu, one of the other power plant workers, had noticed Elsa's odd behavior, too, and, during their lunch break, pulled him off to the side to ask if they had gotten into a lovers' quarrel.

"_Hell, no,"_ he had responded. They hadn't argued at all recently.

"_Well, then, why isn't she talking to you?"_

To this, Lynx had no reply, although he wasn't about to say it. He stared at Daniel, silently asking exactly what his point was.

"_I think that I know what you should do, kid."_

"_I'm not a kid."_ He was twenty, not fifteen. _"And last time I checked, you were divorced because your wife caught you cheating. I don't think it's very safe to take advice from you."_

Daniel smiled at the young man in front of him and shook his head. _"I think that just the fact that I could sustain a relationship with three different women at one time should count for something."_

"_Yeah. Counts towards being an ass hole."_ All of this said in a flat voice and deadpanned expression. Lynx Luxray really was a nearly expressionless person; that's just the way he _was_, the way that he _is_, and the way that he always _will_ be.

Daniel Raichu took no offense to the statement; he never did, really. He continued to tease Lynx until it was time to get back to work and, by the time that happened, Lynx had already decided to, when work was all over, try inviting Elsa out for another date to try and cheer her up.

May then, she'll actually tell him what's wrong.

* * *

_Lauran felt Cramped, Trapped._

_It was Cold, and Dark._

_Oh, so very, very Cold and Dark._

_But._

_She could see Something._

_No. _

_She could _Feel_ it,_

_Just on her Fingertips,_

_Reaching for Her,_

_Touching her Palms with Warm, Caressing Light._

_It was There;_

_She just Needed to Reach further,_

_Further into this strange Darkness._

_She Reached out with her Arms,_

_Desperate to Grasp onto Something,_

_Needing that Warmth that she could Feel out in front of Her._

_She touched Something,_

_Felt her Cool hands Warm with Liquid,_

_And Brought them to her Face._

_Through the thick Blanket of Blackness in front of her Eyes,_

_She could just See it._

_Crimson red, staining her hands._

_She Screamed,_

_Eyes widely Looking around Her for an Escape,_

_And Found more Red,_

_This Time in the Shapes of Eyes._

_Around Her,_

_All Around Her._

_There were Ember Ninetales's Eyes,_

_And then, All at Once,_

_They seemed to Belong to that Girl,_

_That one Girl,_

_From down the Street,_

_Ursula Umbreon._

_Ursula's Eyes._

_Ember's Eyes._

_They were There, Watching,_

_Waiting._

_Their Eyes,_

_So Red._

_Oh, Arceus._

_So Red._

_So, so Red._

_So Sinful._

_No,_

_Not Lauran's sin,_

_But theirs._

_Such Ugly Sin._

_Such a beautiful, Sinful Red._

_"May Arceus Spare You All."_

Lauran Gardevoir sat up in bed, looked over to see her husband Lysander sleeping peacefully next to her, and got up to watch the woods in the backyard.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**Happy late Singles' Awareness- err… I mean- Valentine's Day! Sorry that it's so short, but there wasn't much else to put up on here.**

**I realize that Spirit kinda seems like he's two different people, but that's just the way he is, I guess. There can be multiple different ways that you look at it. **

1:** That creepy, possessive side is just the way that Ursula perceives him to be because, really, he's just a tad bit touchy, very flirty, and gets easily aggravated (especially when she pushes him away like that), and she just feels threatened by those types of people. And, let's face it; we all make some people a littler scarier than they really are sometimes. Or, _I_ do at least. That's just the way Ursula is, too. **2:** In a way, one could say that Spirit is very childish: he doesn't like sharing, and hates it when things don't go his way; therefore, he becomes a bit possessive and more than a little touchy and- I wanna say "sensitive," but it wouldn't be quite the right word- around Ursula. He's a lot more laid back around everyone else (although he _does_ share a mutual dislike for Link).** 3:** Relating to number one, Ness hasn't really seen Spirit interact with Ursula before, so she's never really seen that side of him. She thinks he's just a little lost right now. If she knew how he usually talks to her, she'd probably give him a good 'ol slap to the face.**

**So, in other words, he's not as bad as Ursula thinks, but he's not as good as Ness gives him credit for, if that makes any sense.**

**And there's that explanation, for my lovely reviewer nightrader1234; hopefully his behavior makes a little more sense now.**

**On a side note, I've also thought out this story to the very end, so I've got that issue out of the way. Now all I've got to do is put it all together. Hopefully that won't be as hard as I imagine it'll be…**

**(I have a tip for this story: Just keep a log of all the characters, if you feel like it, because, seriously, you're going to need it. I've got a butt-load of characters in this story and most of them are going to reappear quite a lot (In fact, there are still a few that have yet to be introduced, too!). Heck, _I've_ got a PowerPoint with all of the characters on it so that _I_ can keep up with all of them. Just thought that I'd give you a heads up.)**

**(Note to anyone reading Ice Queen, I was just reading this over and, at one point, I accidentally wrote Daniel Corey instead of Daniel Raichu. :P My bad.)**

**Wow. Super long Author's Note. Sorry. Anyway, thanks a ton for reading, and please don't forget to review so I'll know what you guys are thinking. Bu-Bye!**


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